


Ultimatum

by Fandompuff



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Break Up, Cheating, F/M, Giving Up, I don't like Grace, I don't like Grace Burgess, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pregnancy, Relationship Problems, Running Away, Unhealthy Relationships, Unplanned Pregnancy, homewrecker, request, tommy shelby is an arse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandompuff/pseuds/Fandompuff
Summary: Forced to raise the child of the woman who your husband cheated on you with, you turn to Polly when you can't face going back to Arrowe House. When Tommy comes looking for you, Polly has several things she would like to say- including something that could change your life forever.Unable to thrive in Small Heath with your damaged marriage and old, bitter memories, you escape to London. All that remains is hope.
Relationships: Grace Burgess/Tommy Shelby, Tommy Shelby/Reader
Comments: 12
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

Tommy Shelby often kept secrets. Secrets about work, business, Russians… but you had agreed to never keep secrets about what was going on in your head, never hold back when you were scared or hurting.

At least, you upheld your end of the agreement.

He did too, most of the time. You didn’t like to call yourself a jealous person, not minding a little flirting (he was charming and handsome and dangerous). What you did mind, however, was having your face rubbed into it- ladies approaching him in the Garrison and leaving lingering touches on his arm while you were holding his other hand; Tatiana Petrovna wandering your mansion stark naked, being chased by Tommy while you were trying to calm a restless Charlie down… worst of all was Grace. Tommy left you once for her and didn’t let you back into his life or his home until after she died. And when you did come back you were greeted with a perfect, blond child who needed a mother. You doted on Charlie and refused to let the infant see your anger, but one night you couldn’t bring yourself to go home after visiting Small Heath, and sobbed into Polly’s shoulder.

“He doesn’t love me anymore, Pol,” you whispered. “He’s just using me… how can I have a relationship with a man who cheated on me and knocked up a barmaid while I was running errands for him? How can I even start to think about our future together when everything in that house is tainted by her?”

Polly held you close and let you cry, murmuring that all men were bastards who only thought with their cocks. “He’s doing it again, Pol,” you whispered, sipping your tea with shaking hands. “I can feel it. Just you watch. He’ll knock some other girl up while I’m taking care of his child, then have me raise the new one as well,”

Polly wished she could comfort you, telling you that of course Tommy wouldn’t do that to you… but he had already done it once, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise to her if he did it again.

She set you up a bed for the night in Michael’s old room, letting you sleep away your exhaustion caused by balancing raising the child of the woman you were cheated on with, running between Small Heath, Arrowe House and London, using your pretty face to do Tommy’s dirty work, and pouring your heart and soul into re-kindling your relationship with Tommy.

The next morning, you were awoken by the front door banging open and a fiery shouting match between Tommy and Pol.

“Where the fuck is she, Pol? She isn’t with Ada, Linda and Esme haven’t seen her either, so she must be with you,”

You pressed your ear to the door, listening intently as Aunt Pol defended you. “Now listen here, Thomas Shelby. Who the fuck are you to bang around here, demanding to see your Missus when you’ve paid her next to no attention for the past year, ay? Don’t you dare come slamming my doors, acting like a knight in shining fucking armour when I had to tuck that poor girl into bed like my own fucking daughter because her heart has been torn to pieces. Don’t you dare scream in this fucking neighbourhood like you own the place, expecting her to be at your side at your beck and call when you have done nothing for her but break her heart and ruin her confidence! You’re a heartless bastard, Thomas Shelby, and you’re turning into your father more and more every day. Now sit the fuck down and stop acting like the king of the fucking world because you’ve rigged a few races and are playing big boys with the Russians, or I swear to God, Thomas, I will cut you,”

Your eyes welled up as a Polly spoke, and you felt your heart swell with adoration for her. You heard the scraping of chairs as Tommy sat down, admitting defeat to his aunt. “Look, Pol, I’m sorry,”

You heard Polly snort. “It’s not me you should be apologising to,” she snapped. “It’s the woman upstairs wearing my nighty, tucked up in Michael’s old bed because she didn’t feel able to go back to her home. Do you not realise how cruel it is that she has raised your son? How she has to attend events for the Grace Shelby Foundation with a great big smile on her face even though that harlot took the man she loved? How she lives in a house and sleeps in a bedroom where every wall has a picture of the woman who shattered her trust in all she ever knew, just because she is too kind-hearted and too meek to say anything,”

“Grace was my wife-“

“So was fucking YN before you decided to dip your wick elsewhere and act as a living sperm bank while she was in London convincing Solomons to be a little more generous with his business! You paraded YN, your first wife, like a whore, all while dealing with a tart who almost had this entire family killed!”

Tommy let out an agitated sigh. Slamming his hand on the table. “Don’t you dare call Grace a whore,” he growled.

“Don’t you dare treat YN like a disposable scrap of paper! She is not a business tool, Thomas, she is your wife. Lord knows, she has the patience of a saint putting up with you with a smile on her face. You made a choice to remarry her, to reform, but for fuck’s sake, don’t you dare let her go again. She has done nothing to deserve the way she has been treated,”

It was silent for a moment before, “I think she’s pregnant, Thomas,”

A glass shattered.

“Oh don’t look so surprised. We all know you like to fuck away your troubles. Her belly’s growing and I could feel it in her breast when she was crying,”

The rest of the conversation blurred into a meaningless buzz as you rested a hand on your stomach, biting your lip. Your last cycle was… two months ago. You had thought you missed it because of the stress, but it was starting to make sense. Snapping back into reality, you quickly dressed in your clothes from the night before (which Polly must have washed and brought up while you were sleeping and crept downstairs. Polly saw you in the doorway, but Tommy had his back to you, still processing the information.

“I-I’m going to London. To stay with Ada,” you announced, your voice a little shaky.

“Your things are at home,” Tommy said, voice quiet. He still wasn’t looking at you.

“They’re just things,” you said. “I can lend Ada’s clothes until I get some more,” you looked at Polly. “Do you think you could… you know… do the thing where you predict what I’ll have?”

Polly smiled sadly and stood up. She grabbed your breast and debated for a moment. “A girl,” she said. “A beautiful girl with her mother’s sweet face and her father’s dark hair.

You rubbed your tiny bump gently and hugged her. Tommy had stood up as well, almost as if expecting a hug himself.

“Thank you. For everything,” you murmured.

“YN,” Tommy suddenly blurted. “Don’t go to London,”

You frowned at him. “Why not?” You asked, standing a little straighter.

“Because you’re my wife,” he said. “Your home is here,”

You sighed. “Thomas. I’m going to London, to stay with Ada. I’ll book in with the midwives there. By all means, call me when you get your shit together. But I swear to god, if I come back to Birmingham and see you waiting on the steps with another child that isn’t mine, I will turn on my heel and go straight back down to London with my daughter, and she will have my surname and never know of the Shelby blood that runs through her veins,”

You glanced at Polly, who gave you a firm nod as Tommy stood with his eyes wide, watching his childhood sweetheart drift away as the world crumbled around her.

You left the house and went to the train station. You didn’t say goodbye, because deep down, you hoped Tommy would fight for you, and call as soon as he knew you had arrived down south.

Hope was all you had now as the train picked up speed and you pressed a hand to your tummy, head resting against the cool glass of the window as you drifted to sleep, dreaming of easier times, before the war, before Shelby Company Limited… before Grace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy people seem to like this story! I'm not too sure how it'll end just yet- make sure to bookmark it/ follow my Tumblr to find out what happens :)

You bit your lip as the doorbell rang. You were about to leave when you heard the voice of Karl travelling through the house. “Mummy, there’s someone at the door!”

“Coming!” Ada called, and you forced yourself to stand a little straighter as the door opened. “YN, what’re you doing? Come in before you freeze, where’s your coat?” You let the slightly older woman hurry you inside, smiling slightly as she mothered a grown woman. “Polly rang,” she said gently. “I’ve made a bed for you, and I’ve sorted out some clothes,”

You smiled gratefully, feeling your eyes well up with tears. “Thank you,” you said, voice cracking slightly. You let Ada rub your arm and make you tea as you told her everything, head in your hands. “I just... I don’t know what to do, Ada,” you murmured. “It’s all gone wrong... he used to love me,”

Ada sighed and smiled sadly. “He used to love us all. Now all he loves is money and power. Come on, let’s get you upstairs, you look done in. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the doctors,” you nodded, and for the second time in two days, allowed yourself to be tucked into bed like a child.

As the sun shone through the curtains and the streets started buzzing with energy as labourers got to work, you awoke. You washed your face and brushed your teeth, before styling your hair and doing your makeup properly for the first time in months, slipping into one of Ada’s lent dresses. You pressed a hand to your tiny bump, stroking with your thumb, before braving going downstairs.

Ada grinned at you as you entered the kitchen. “There she is, gorgeous as ever,” she smiled, happy to see a bit of colour in your cheeks, even if it was artificial. “Come on, Karl, eat up,” she smiled, ruffling her son’s head as he ate his porridge. You accepted tea from Ada and sat down, letting Karl jabber away about what he was learning in school. It was soon time to head to the doctor’s, and Karl was dropped off at a neighbour’s. You walked arm in arm with Ada, down the busy streets, before checking into the small medical centre. Ada did the talking, and you were soon called into the midwife’s room.

“Which one of you is Mrs Shelby?” She asked kindly, and you raised your hand slightly. Ada gave you an encouraging nod as you hopped up onto the bed and the midwife conducted her examination. Throughout the whole thing, you stared at the ceiling with your eyebrows tugged together, hands clasped over your heart.

“Well, Mrs Shelby, I can confirm that you are pregnant. Congratulations,” the midwife said as you sat up. “I’d say you’re about two months along, judging by that bump... does that match up with your cycle or lack thereof?”

You nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, it does,” you said simply, looking at the paperwork. You stared at the line labelled surname for what seemed like an eternity.

“You can take the forms home if you’d like, fill them out with your husband?” The midwife offered as you stared blankly at the desk. Ada quickly nodded and guided you out.

“Well done, YN,” she said gently, tucking the papers safely into her handbag.

“I’m pregnant. I’m definitely pregnant,” you whispered. Part of you had hoped that Polly was wrong. Part of you wanted nothing of Thomas’s growing inside you.

But part of you wanted to have a baby of your own, to grow and nurture and raise as your own, not as some other woman’s surrogate. Part of you hoped the news would reach Birmingham and that Tommy would come rushing down to London on his hands and knees and beg you to come back and have a life with him.

“Yes you are,” Ada said, snapping you back to reality. “But it’s okay. We’ll work through it, I’ll help you with the baby and the pregnancy and all that. And in terms of paperwork, your surname is Shelby. Like it or not, you’re still married to my twat of a brother and I think that’s for the best... most places won’t see unmarried women,”

You sighed, letting Ada be the voice of reason, walking through a peaceful park on your way back to her house. “I’ve still got some of Karl’s stuff from when he was little... I’m sure I have a Moses basket upstairs somewhere,” she mused aloud, as you drew the cardigan you had on tight around your body. You felt as though you had a flashing beacon on your belly, and thought everyone could see.

You didn’t speak again for the rest of the way home, only offering Karl a small smile as you picked him up from the neighbour. You slipped into the house with your head hung and shut the door on the busy street of London. The cars, the people, and the clacking of a walking stick on the cobbles.


End file.
